Morton puts up fight in loss to No. 10 Sterling

Facing a state-ranked foe in its first game under new coach Trevor Lehnen, the Morton football team showed glimpses of what it could be Friday night at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

Josh Wessler

Facing a state-ranked foe in its first game under new coach Trevor Lehnen, the Morton football team showed glimpses of what it could be Friday night at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

But unfortunately for the Potters, the host Warriors showed exactly why they are ranked No. 10 in the Class 5A polls by defeating the resilient Potters 42-21 in the season opener for both teams.

Behind the play of quarterback Niko Rivera, Sterling scored three times on their first three possessions to take a 21-0 lead with just over five minutes left to play in the half.

Two of the Warriors' touchdowns came as a direct result of two Potter turnovers.

Despite the best efforts of Morton, the early deficit proved to be the difference in what was the first meeting between the two programs.

"It wasn't the outcome that we were looking for, but we gave these guys a heck of a fight," Lehnen said. "We got off to a sloppy start, and you know what it was? Turnovers. You can't turn over the football. If we would have protected the ball, it might have been a different outcome."

After allowing the Warriors to score those three early touchdowns, the Potters defense stopped the hosts on Morton's 37 with time winding down in the first half.

But there was enough time for Morton quarterback Doug Rossi.

The first-year starter orchestrated a 63-yard touchdown drive keyed by two long completions to Seth Ingold for a total of 53 yards. A five-yard run by Alex Woodhams, who led Morton with 114 yards rushing, cut the deficit to 21-7 with just under 48 seconds to play in the first half.

After a fumble by Corey Judd gave the Potters the ball on Sterling's 40 with 33 seconds left in the half, Morton was able to cut Sterling's lead to 21-14 by the break with a 40-yard drive that was capped by a three-yard scoring pass from Rossi to Cole Reuter as time expired.

The Potters had a chance to tie the game early in the second half after a second Warriors fumble left Morton with the ball 43 yards from the end zone.

Sterling's defense was able to stop the Potters on the 28.

A 26-yard touchdown pass from Rivera to Dustin Fritsch on the following possession all but put the game out of reach for the Potters, who managed to cut it to 28-21 midway through the fourth before Sterling sealed it with two touchdowns in the final seven minutes of play.

"We have some great senior leadership, and I think they took it upon themselves to make up for those mistakes," Sterling coach Greg King said. "After they got back in it, we got back to some of our bread-and-butter stuff. Our strength is our line, and they performed well tonight."